Break Down
by tiffywiffyfluffykitty
Summary: Minato and Lucy lost their parents in a tragic fire and were taken in by their godfather, Jiraiya. Ten years later, the three of them moved to Magnolia where Minato is shown to be even more overprotective than usual as Lucy catches the eye of their neighbor, Natsu Dragneel. But when Minato meets Kushina, Natsu's older sister, can he bring himself to unwind and let go of his fears?
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah, I really need to stop posting stuff and work on all those fanfictions I'm supposed to be working on, but seriously, I really want to stop and move on. I'm actually contemplating if I should give away several of them right now since I have so much and yet I want to write more. **

**This is a Naruto and Fairy Tail crossover I've been thinking about for weeks. I'm only tentatively titling it Overprotective until I can think of a better title. Until then, I hope you like this crossover. It will be a little OOC, so I'm sorry about that. Review! :D**

* * *

**Chapter 1 **

**Ten years ago…**

"Minato-nii!" Five-year-old Lucy called, tears sliding down her face as she huddled in the corner, clutching Plue, her stuffed animal toy. "Minato-nii!"

The flames roared hungrily, flickering up the walls. The windows shattered and she screamed with fright. Smoke drifted into her mouth and nose, making her cough.

"Lucy!" There was banging on the door. "Lucy! Are you in there?!"

"Minato-nii!" she screamed.

The door burst open and her 10 year old brother slammed into the room. Wasting no time, he scooped her up and carried her out the door and down the stairs, gritting his teeth as the heat scorched his skin. They stumbled out the front door and immediately, firemen whisked them away from the burning house.

"Minato! Lucy!" A man with long spiky white hair and red marks on his face hurried towards them. A policeman held him back. "Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to need you to stand back."

"They're my godchildren!" The man roared at the police officer and pushed through, pulling the two blond children into his arms even as paramedics tried to put oxygen masks over them.

"Jiraiya!" Minato coughed, feeling the soreness in his throat. Lucy had quieted, though tears still ran down her face. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes with anguish and held them closer, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry, Minato," he eventually choked out.

Lucy stared with wide eyes, still not comprehending while her brother gritted his teeth and held her closer, tears sliding down his cheeks. He bowed his head. Lucy shook him. "Where's Mama and Papa, Minato-nii?"

But he only held her tight and didn't say anything. Lucy looked back at the burning house. "Mama! Papa!" she called.

Jiraiya took her from Minato and cradled her. "It's ok, Lucy," he soothed, but Lucy wriggled. "Where's Mama? I want Mama!"

"Mama's gone, Lucy," Minato said harshly, looking up at her with burning cerulean eyes that dripped tears. The liquid mixed with the soot streaked on his face, causing them to turn black. "Papa's gone too."

Lucy began to wail. "No! I want Mama! Mama! Papa!" She squirmed, trying to get out of Jiraiya's hold. "MAMA!"

Minato looked down. Jiraiya held her closer. "It's ok, Lucy," he whispered. "Minato's still here and so am I. We'll take care of you." He looked back at the house, which was being extinguished by the firemen. "I'll take care of them, Layla, Jude," he vowed. "I promise."

_I promise…_

* * *

**Present Day…**

"Minato!" Lucy yelled from her room. "I can't find my phone!"

"Check the back pocket of your jeans!" Minato yelled back from the kitchen.

A moment of silence, then, "Thanks!" A minute later, she came down wearing a red plaid pleated skirt with a matching bow that flared over the sand-colored sweater-vest she wore over her white blouse. She slipped her feet into brown loafers, hugged Minato while taking a square or two of the brownies that were stacked on a plate nearby, and left, yelling, "I'll see you later!"

Minato popped a piece of brownie into his mouth as well and poured himself a cup of coffee. Jiraiya stumbled down the stairs, bleary-eyed. "Is that coffee?" he mumbled. He poured himself some and dumped in sugar and milk before knocking it back. "How you two always manage to get up on time beats me."

"She just doesn't want to be late on her first day." Minato glanced over at the stacks of boxes in the living room. "Jiraiya, will you be able to handle unpacking by yourself? I have to meet Professor Tsunade at Konoha College."

"Sure, kid, knock yourself out," Jiraiya muttered. "You going to pick up Lucy?"

Minato shook his head. "She threatened to take my car keys away if I keep picking her up from school. Said something about wanting to hang out with friends."

"Made friends already?" Jiraiya asked, perking up a bit. "Any guy friends?"

Minato shot him a glare and his godfather held his hands up in surrender. "I know, I know. But you can't blame me. She's growing up."

"I know," Minato sighed. He finished his coffee and picked up his messenger bag. "I'll be home by 6, hopefully. If Lucy's not home by 5, call me immediately." With those parting words, he left.

Jiraiya sighed. "Overprotective," he muttered. Yawning, he went back up the stairs and into his own bedroom.

* * *

Lucy nervously stood by the gates of Magnolia Academy, peeking at the multitude of students who stood in the courtyard, talking to friends or finishing up what homework they didn't do over the weekend. Nearby, a group of boys were roughhousing each other, their laughter and corny taunts ringing in the air.

"Snow Cone!"

"Tabasco Sauce!"

Taking a deep breath, Lucy stepped in, only to be rammed into by one of the aforementioned boys. With a surprised shriek, she fell to the ground, her white and pink messenger bag slipping from her shoulder.

The boy groaned, sitting up. He was very handsome and looked to be only a year older than herself and wore his uniform with the shirt untucked and his red plaid tie loosened. What was most surprising about him was the shockingly pink hair that was mussed into spikes on his head and the white muffler around his neck despite the heat. He hurriedly stood and stretched out a hand to her. "Sorry about that," he grinned sheepishly. "You ok?"

Nodding silently, Lucy put her hand in his and allowed him to pull her up. She brushed off her uniform as the boy picked up her bag and handed it to her. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"No problem." He peered closely at her. "Hey, I've never seen you here before. You new?"

"Y-Yeah. I moved in here two days ago."

"Huh." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

Lucy took it again, noticing this time that it was unusually warm and firm. "Lucy Heartfilia-Namikaze."

"Long name." One of his pink eyebrows kicked up.

"My mom's maiden name was Namikaze."

"Oh." He scratched his head. "Well, my sis also has a long name so it doesn't matter, I guess."

"You have a sister?" Lucy asked, a little curious.

"Yeah. Two. What about you?"

"I have an older brother, Minato Heartfilia-Namikaze. He goes to Konoha College."

"Hey, my sis goes there too!" Natsu grinned at her, a full-toothed grin that made Lucy's heart skip a beat. "Her name's Kushina."

"That's a nice name." Lucy smiled back.

"Oi, Flaming Panties, how long are you gonna take?" one of the boys called.

"Shut up, Underwear Princess!" Natsu called back in an annoyed tone. He turned back to Lucy. "See you, Lucy." He flashed another grin at her before going back to his group of friends. A second later, Lucy could hear them bantering again. With a small grin on her face, she headed inside the school.


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to call this fanfiction Break Down for a reason that has to do with this story, but no spoilers yet. the more interesting stuff happens in the next chapter, but I hope you like this one! Review please!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Minato jumped slightly when he felt his phone vibrate briefly in his pocket. He quietly pulled it out and tapped on the screen to see that he'd gotten a text message from Jiraiya. Apparently his godfather had finished unpacking and setting up the house and was off to get some drinks. Minato frowned. He'd wanted Jiraiya to be there when Lucy got home.

He looked up at Professor Tsunade, who had a diagram of the heart tacked on the board and was talking about heart diseases. He jotted down some notes then looked around.

About twenty students were avidly listening as Tsunade talked on. One of them in particular caught his eye. She was a young woman at least a year younger than him with eyes a strange color of gray-violet, skin even paler than Lucy's, and red hair a deep shade of crimson. Right now, her coral pink lips were twisted in a slight frown as she nibbled on the end of her pen.

Minato looked back at the board, but almost immediately, his eyes flickered back to her. As soon as he did, the bells in the bell tower above the college library chimed for three o'clock.

"I want three chapters on heart diseases done tonight with a full length essay on what you've read!" Tsunade called.

He quickly packed his things and in his haste, accidentally dropped his pen. Before he could reach it, however, a slender hand had reached it first. He looked up in surprise.

A girl with long dark hair and equally dark eyes was standing in front of his desk, holding his pen. "Here, you dropped this."

"Thanks." Minato took it and shoved it into his bag. The girl nodded with a quick smile and hurried to the door, where the redheaded girl Minato was staring at was waiting. Her eyes flickered up to his before she pushed open the door and slipped out.

Now the only student left in the room, Minato quickly left and found himself in a near-empty hallway. He exited the building and leaned against the cool brick wall, taking out his phone and typing a quick message to Jiraiya warning him that he better be at home by 5 so that Lucy wouldn't arrive home alone. He put his phone back in his pocket and left for his next class.

* * *

School was over. Lucy sighed with relief as she stood up, cracking her stiff fingers. As she did so, a small blue-haired girl sidled over to her, a wide grin on her face. "So, Lu-chan, what did you think of your first day?"

It was Levy McGarden, a girl Lucy had met on Saturday after Jiraiya had sent her to the store for cleaning supplies. The two had instantly hit it off and had promised to see each other at school.

"Great so far," Lucy admitted honestly. "It's great to see you're in most of my classes."

"Same here! I thought I was going to be stuck with Jet and Droy forever in Orochimaru's Biology class! Not that they're bad friends, it's just that they're a little clingy." Both girls shot glances at the two boys, both of whom are arguing once again over who would date Levy.

"I met someone called Natsu Dragneel today," Lucy said casually, putting her pencil case inside her bag.

Levy's eyes widened. "Natsu Dragneel? He's one of the most popular boys in school!"

"Really? Better not tell my brother. He gets a little…overprotective." Lucy rolled her eyes, but her smile held only fondness for Minato.

"Sure." The two girls left the room and out the school. Lucy checked her watch. "It's 3:37 right now. I have to get home at 5 or Minato's going to freak."

"Then do you want to go eat? There's a cute café a few blocks from here. It's really popular with girls and their strawberry cakes are amazing!" Levy squinted a little as a car ran past, the flash of sunlight reflecting off the windshield and beaming into her eyes for a quick second.

"Strawberry cake?" They turned to see a tall redheaded girl with large cocoa brown eyes standing behind them. She was holding hands with an even taller boy with cerulean blue hair, emerald green eyes, and a strange red tattoo over the right side of his face.

"Hey Erza, Jellal," Levy greeted. She gestured at Lucy. "This is Lucy Heartfilia-Namikaze. She's a new student and my new best friend."

Erza formally held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Lucy. I'm Erza Scarlet. This is my boyfriend, Jellal Fernandes." He inclined his head mutely, green eyes inscrutable.

Lucy shook Erza's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Erza."

"Do you want to come with us? We're going to get strawberry cake at The Trimens Café," Levy invited.

Jellal's face abruptly darkened and Erza shivered. "As much as I would like to, I'll have to decline."

"Oh. Ichiya, right?" Levy asked grimly.

"Who's Ichiya?" Lucy asked, confused.

"The owner of the café," Levy whispered. "He's a little weird… even more so to Erza."

Lucy sweatdropped. "I'm not sure I want to go there now…" She suddenly screamed with surprise as someone poked her sides. Loud boisterous laughter rung out as Natsu revealed himself to be the culprit. Lucy's face turned red. "Natsu!" she yelled.

The pink-haired boy raised his hands. "Sorry." But a large grin still adorned his face. "Hey, Lucy."

A good-looking dark haired boy strolled over to them. He wore his shirt unbuttoned, showing off his perfect abs and chest. A silver necklace with a sword-shaped pendant reflected the sunlight as it rested on his chest. Lucy blushed even harder as she stared at him. One of the boy's eyebrows kicked up at her red face. "Hey. I'm Gray Fullbuster." He waved a little, then returned his hand to his pocket.

"L-Lucy Heartfilia-Namikaze," Lucy whispered, cheeks still a rich shade of fuchsia. Next to her, Natsu frowned. "Oi, Stripper, button up, will ya?"

Gray looked down and jumped with surprise. "Whoa! When did this happen? Sorry, Lucy!" He turned away and quickly buttoned up his shirt.

Erza sighed. "Make sure it doesn't happen again, Gray," she warned sternly.

Lucy's phone chimed. She pulled it out. "Oh! It's Jiraiya." As she read the text message, she sighed. "He wants me to go home early," she grumbled.

"Who's Jiraiya?" Gray asked.

"My godfather. He's taking care of me and Minato when…" Lucy trailed off, her eyes momentarily turning blank. She recovered a few seconds later and gave them all a brilliant smile. "He's just my guardian."

"I see," Erza said cautiously. All of them had noticed when Lucy had abruptly wandered off for a moment, but none chose to comment about it. "If he's telling you to go home early, you probably should."

"Yeah, I guess so… I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Lucy said, a large smile on her face. The others chorused their goodbyes and watched as she left.

"She's a nice girl," Erza said, a pleased smile on her face. Levy nodded happily.

* * *

"Jiraiya! What do you need me home so early for?" Lucy called as she entered the house. She glanced at the oven clock to see that it was 4:32. "It's not even 5 yet!"

But the house was empty. Annoyed, Lucy kicked off her shoes and stomped upstairs to her room. She opened the door and cried out with surprise as a white Labrador puppy jumped at her, yapping happily.

"Surprise!" Jiraiya laughed from where he sat on her desk chair. "Saw him in a pet shop on my way to the bar and thought you might like him."

"He's gorgeous!" Lucy squealed happily, hugging the puppy tightly as he licked her cheek frantically. "Thank you!"

"What're you going to name him?"

"Plue," Lucy grinned as she knelt on the ground. "Definitely Plue."

Plue yapped and bolted out the door. Lucy followed him and found two dog bowls, a plain blue leash and collar, and a bag of dog food resting on the counter. "You hungry, boy?" she cooed.

Her puppy yapped and Lucy poured out some puppy chow in one silver bowl and filled the other with water. Plue ate a little, but immediately bounded up again, snagging the collar and leash.

"Looks like he wants to take a walk," Jiraiya said, coming down the stairs. "Well, I'll be out for a few hours. Don't go too far, ok?"

"Alright! What do you want for dinner?" Lucy asked. She usually took over the cooking duties since Jiraiya always managed to burn something and Minato never really had time to cook anymore.

"Some of your spicy chicken curry would be fine." Jiraiya grinned and left with a short salute in Lucy's direction.

Plue barked again and Lucy patted his head. "Just let me change into something else first." She dashed up the stairs and shucked off her uniform, pulling on a loose white shirt with a quote from one of her favorite books on it and shorts and sliding her feet into flats. She shoved her wallet, phone, and keys into her pockets and went back downstairs. After Plue's collar and leash was clipped on, Lucy led the way out the door, locking it after her.

Plue was excitedly sniffing at everything he could reach. Lucy had had to pull him back several times as they left the front yard, in which was filled with black garbage bags and stacks of old cardboard boxes tied with twine.

Finally, they managed to make it out of the front yard. As Lucy tugged Plue towards the direction of the local supermarket, she stopped as someone said her name.

"Lucy?"

She turned.

"Natsu?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter was actually longer than it was supposed to be, but I extended it because of several things I wanted to add in. I hope you guys could see the overprotectiveness in big brother Minato at the end of the chapter. And yes, I did make him irritated at Kushina for a reason. I did mention it will be OOC a little.**

**Anyhoo, this chapter focuses on the beginning of NaLu and the start of Minato's troubles! Please review! :D **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Natsu Dragneel was standing behind her, a little girl with blue hair by his side who looked to be about twelve years old. "Lucy, you live here?" He pointed at her house.

"Yeah," she said, surprised.

Another full-toothed grin stretched over Natsu's face delightedly. "Cool! I live here." He pointed to the house right next to hers. "We're neighbors!"

Lucy grinned as Plue sniffed at Natsu's pants. "That's great!" She'd already taken a liking to the pink-haired boy and, truth be told, did find him to be rather cute. None of the boys back in her hometown were as good-looking as him or Gray. "Who's this?" she asked, indicating the little blue-haired girl.

"This is Wendy, my little sis." Natsu nudged the little girl affectionately.

Wendy stepped forward and bowed formally. "It's very nice to meet you, Lucy-san," she said politely.

"No need to be so polite. Call me Lucy," the other girl said warmly. "Let's be friends."

Wendy blushed a little and smiled. "Is that your dog?"

"Plue? Yeah, I just got him. My godfather, Jiraiya, got him for me." Lucy grinned again as Plue barked.

"Where're you going, Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"To the store. I'm making spicy chicken curry for tonight's dinner..." Lucy stopped talking as she saw Natsu's eyes begin to shine.

Wendy giggled. "Natsu-nii loves spicy food. He always begs Mom to make it, but Kushina-nee and I can't eat a lot of it."

"Actually Kushina ate almost as much as I did," Natsu corrected his little sister. "Only you and Mom can't eat a lot."

"No, Kushina-nee actually pushed away her plate the last time Mom made that spicy Chinese tofu and you ate all of it!"

"That was cause she was sick that day! Besides, that's three months ago!"

"What about the soup Mikoto-san brought over?"

"It was mild! It could hardly be called spicy!"

Lucy laughed as she watched the two of them argue. It actually reminded her of herself and Minato. "Well, I've got to go now. I'll see you around?"

The siblings looked up. "Let me go with you!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

She blinked with surprise. "What?"

"Aw come on, I don't have homework and I need to buy some stuff too. Come on, Luce. Please?" he pleaded, eyes widening slightly in a beseeching way.

"Well, if you want… But I have lots of stuff to buy and I need to walk Plue."

"I'll take him if you want," Wendy said, smiling.

"Thanks," Lucy said gratefully. She checked the time on her phone. "We should get going now. Minato's coming home at 6 so I need time to prepare."

"Alright." Natsu gave Wendy his bag to carry inside. "And if Mom's at home by now, tell her where I went."

"I will." So saying, Wendy turned and entered the front yard of her house, Plue trotting after her.

"She's a sweet girl," Lucy commented as she and Natsu strolled down the block.

"Yeah. She and Kushina are the best," Natsu said happily. "What about you?"

"Minato?" Lucy laughed lightly. "He's overprotective sometimes, but I know he loves me and I love him too." Her smile widened a little. "He saved my life once."

"How did that happen?"

She shook her head. "That's not important right now. So… tell me about yourself."

Natsu laughed. "What do you wanna know?"

"Hmm… How old are you?"

"15," he answered promptly.

Lucy's mouth dropped open slightly. "No way, you're the same age as I am! I thought you were 16 or something!"

Natsu looked a little smug. "Nope. Not until summer."

"Huh, same here. I was born on July 1."

"My birthday's June 21 so that's why my old man gave me this name."

"Nice."

"I guess. What else you wanna know?"

"Well… tell me about your family, I guess."

"There's not much, really. Grandine's a doctor at Konoha Medical Center at the college and she's best friends with the head professor there so they made that lady mine and Wendy's godmother, Igneel's a firefighter, Wendy's in middle school, and Kushina's studying to be a doctor with my godmother. She's not my real sister, cause Grandine and Igneel adopted her and she kept her last name so she's Kushina Uzumaki, not Kushina Dragneel."

"Her name's not that long," Lucy said. "You said that she has a long name, but it's not as long as mine. And you call your parents by their first name?"

"It's long to me and we've been doing that for our whole lives," Natsu replied nonchalantly. "So what about your family?"

Lucy's mouth twisted downward. "Jiraiya's been taking care of me for ten years now. He's the author of the Icha Icha Paradise books so we're pretty ok, since it's such a bestseller. Minato's studying to be a doctor too, and I want to be an author."

"What about your parents?"

Her mouth pressed into a thin line and she didn't say anything. After a while, Natsu seemed to get the message and changed the subject. "The store's down this street." He turned the corner.

"I know. I've been there on Saturday. I met Levy-chan there too." They stopped in front of a grocery store and went in. Lucy snagged a cart and pushed it down the first aisle, immediately going to the fruit section.

Natsu wrinkled his nose slightly. "Why fruit?"

"Fruit is good for you," Lucy said absently, picking up several apples and examining them. "And since it's going to get cold soon, it's good to build up your immune system." She put the apples in a plastic bag from the dispenser and placed them in the cart before moving on to the vegetables.

"So Luce, why'd you move here?"

Lucy smiled a little. "Jiraiya likes to wander around a lot. He calls himself a 'free spirit' or something. We actually lived in about four other cities before Magnolia."

Natsu raised his eyebrows. "That's a lot."

"I know, right? Anyway, I don't think we'll be moving anymore. Minato's decided he wants to stay at Konoha College and Jiraiya found out his old crush or something teaches there, plus I'm tired of moving around, so we decided that we're going to stay here." Lucy wandered over to the meat section and examined packages of chicken pieces.

Natsu snagged two large bags of Doritos and a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and put them in the cart, then grabbed a six-pack of Coke. He disappeared down the frozen foods section and came back with boxes of ice cream. At Lucy's look, he shrugged. "My family likes junk food."

She sighed, then reached around him for another two bags of Doritos. "So does mine," she said, a small smile. "Do you usually go grocery shopping?"

"Nah. Kushina or Mom does it most of the time, but when the ramen or spicy snacks run out, I go buy some." Natsu disappeared again down an aisle a little farther down the store as Lucy went around the store, piling up the cart with whatever she needed or wanted.

She found Natsu in the same aisle he'd disappeared down in ten minutes later, but he wasn't alone. Instead, he was accompanied by a taller young woman with long red hair flowing down nearly to her knees and who was carrying her own basket of groceries. As Lucy pushed the full cart towards them, the two looked up.

"Hey, Luce!" Natsu said, grinning. He threw bags of cat food onto the cart and gestured at the woman. "This is my sis, Kushina."

"Hello," the woman said, a smile on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kushina-san," Lucy said politely.

Kushina waved a casual hand at her, "No need to be so polite. Yeesh, you make me feel old, calling me that. Call me Kushina, 'ttebane."

Lucy smiled more broadly. "Ok… Kushina."

"Are you buying all that?" Natsu asked her, eyeing the huge amount of food in the cart.

"Not all of it is mine. You have three bags of chips, five boxes of ice cream sandwiches, and a pack of Coke that are yours. Plus those three bags of cat food." Lucy ticked off the items on her fingers as she spoke.

"Did I get fish?" Natsu demanded.

She blinked. "No. Why?"

"Just wait here!" Then he bolted off into the store.

"But I have fish right here!" she called after him.

"He means fish for Happy," Kushina explained, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.

"Who's Happy?"

"Happy's his cat. Natsu found a stray wandering around one day in the rain and took it in, the poor thing. I'll show you a picture." Kushina dug around her pocket and pulled out a smartphone. After tapping the screen several times, she produced a picture of a blue cat curled up next to a white cat. "Happy's the blue cat. Don't ask me why he's blue; Natsu found him like that when he took him in, 'ttebane."

"Who's the white cat? Is he yours?"

"_She_ belongs to Wendy. Her name's Carla." Kushina put her phone back in her pocket as Natsu ran up with a large whole salmon cradled in his arms. "What took you so long?" she scolded her younger brother.

"Sorry. The guy took forever." He heaved the salmon onto the full cart. "Let's go pay for this."

* * *

Lucy and Natsu and Lucy's groceries all hitched a ride in Kushina's car, a silver Honda Civic. The three of them had all bought so much that half the items had to ride in the backseat with Lucy. Natsu had decided to sit in front with Kushina.

As they pulled up in front of Lucy's house, a sleek black Audi was pulling up into the driveway. The driver's door opened and Minato stepped out. He frowned with puzzlement as Lucy jumped out of Kushina's car. "Lucy?" he called.

"Hi, Minato!" she called as she went to the back of the car. Natsu had already popped the trunk and was picking up the bags. "Do you mind opening the door? I bought groceries."

He continued to frown a little, but did as she asked, holding the door open as Lucy dashed in with the first of the white bags. She came out a few seconds later. "Minato, this is Natsu Dragneel, my classmate, and his sister, Kushina Uzumaki." The two of them nodded as Lucy pointed to them.

"Hey, I know you!" Kushina suddenly yelled, pointing at Minato. "You're that flaky boy in Tsunade's class!"

Minato felt a vein pop on his forehead. "_Flaky boy_?" he repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, you look like a girl!"

Natsu suddenly snorted with laughter and Lucy suppressed a smile as she rushed back inside the house with another load of groceries.

Minato's mouth twisted as the two teenagers ran out of the house again. He kept his eyes trained on Natsu as the boy said something to Lucy, causing her to erupt in peals of laughter.

"Didn't know you lived next door, 'ttebane," Kushina said, grabbing her own bags.

"Me neither," Minato replied coolly, already feeling prickles of annoyance towards her.

"Huh, what's a flaky boy like you doing here?"

"Don't call me a flaky boy." He stared at Natsu again as he and Lucy dashed back and forth, carrying the white bags with the grocery store logo on it.

When they were done, a young girl with long blue hair came over with a white cat in her arms and a white puppy at her feet. The puppy strained at the leash and yelped at Lucy, who laughed again and took him from the girl. "This is Plue," she told her brother. "Jiraiya got him for me after school."

Minato looked doubtfully at the puppy, but Plue whined a little and sniffed his pants and he smiled. "Plue. Just like that stuffed animal you used to have." He grinned and knelt down to rub the dog's ears. "You can keep him."

"I was going to keep him anyway," Lucy said, but she was smiling.

He stood back up. "Who's this?" he asked, indicating the little girl.

"That's my other sis, Wendy," Natsu said. Kushina had gone over to stand with Wendy and the cat was sniffing at her.

Minato's eyes flashed a little when he looked at Natsu and the other boy gulped. His eyes had turned to chips of blue ice. "I see. It's nice to meet you... Natsu."

Lucy groaned and bumped Minato with her shoulder. "Be nice!" she hissed. "They're our neighbors!" She turned to Natsu, Wendy, and Kushina with a bright smile. "Thanks for helping me today," she said gratefully. "If your parents don't mind, would you like to come over for dinner?"

Minato widened his eyes at her slightly in a warning, but she ignored him. Kushina laughed a little, seeing the motion, and the blond man felt another flash of annoyance.

Natsu was grinning. "Sure, Luce! I'll go ask now!" He turned and bounded away, Wendy trailing after him with a smile back at Lucy and Minato. Kushina pressed a button, locking the car, then turned and went into the next door house with an ironic salute back at Minato.

He sighed as he and Lucy went into the house. "Lucy…"

"Come on, Minato! He's not bad at all!" She unclipped the leash from Plue's collar and went into the kitchen to sort the groceries. "And neither are Kushina nor Wendy." She recounted her conversations with the three siblings and the background information that Natsu shared with her.

But Minato still looked doubtful. "Are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt."

Lucy bit her lip. She knew what he meant. "This time will be different," she said firmly. "Besides, he's just a friend."

But he frowned. "All the same." As he headed up to his room, he muttered under his breath, "He won't get close to Lucy. I'll make sure of that."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took so long. I've been a little out of it these past few days so sorry about that. I tried to extend this chapter as much as I could but it still looks a little short. Hope you like the further brotherly-sisterly connection Minato and Lucy have between them and a little of the connection between Kushina and Natsu. :D Review!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Natsu and his sisters showed up at Lucy's door ten minutes later, big smiles on their faces. Minato had answered the door and he'd purposely avoided eye contact with Kushina. For some reason, that woman annoyed him to no end.

As Wendy remained in the living room sipping a glass of juice and watching television, Natsu followed Lucy into the kitchen and started a conversation with her about school. Minato, who was about to follow him, was stopped by Kushina.

"Where you going?" she asked from where she was sitting next to Wendy and reading a magazine that was lying on the coffee table. Minato recognized it as one of the teen magazines that Lucy orders.

"To the kitchen," he said, one ear still straining to listen to Lucy and Natsu's conversation.

"What for? They're not gonna do anything," she snorted, closing the magazine and tossing it casually onto the table. She turned and stared at the television.

Minato exhaled in a sharp huff. "I was going to get you something to drink," he lied.

"Oh. Well, then water is fine." Kushina turned back to the TV as Minato stalked into the kitchen.

Lucy was chopping the vegetables when he walked in. Natsu was leaning against the island, telling her about a person named Gray and how he and this other person named Gajeel got into a fight with some people from Sabertooth High. He stopped talking and Minato strode in and poured water into a blue mug. "Give this to your sister," he said, thrusting it at Natsu, who gave him a strange look before leaving the kitchen area.

Minato sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "She is so annoying," he muttered.

"Kushina?" his sister asked.

"Yeah. You need any help? It's been a while since I cooked," Minato said, looking for an excuse to get away from Kushina and to stay in the kitchen where he could keep an eye on Natsu.

Lucy gave him a slightly frustrated look, guessing his intentions. "You can start with the chicken," she said shortly. "I need to clean them."

Minato rolled up his sleeves as Natsu reentered the kitchen. The pink-haired boy gave Minato another glance before standing against the counter as before, although he didn't lean against it. His body was slightly tense.

Lucy rolled her eyes, giving Minato another frustrated glance, before saying to Natsu, "So tell me more about Gray."

"What's so good about that Stripper?" Natsu snorted. He suddenly gave her a suspicious look. "Do you _like_ him?"

Minato's ears perked up as he continued to scrub at the chicken under the running faucet.

Lucy laughed. "No! Of course not!"

"Oh. Good. Cause he already has a girlfriend. Her name's Juvia and be careful around them cause she thinks everyone but Erza's trying to steal him from her."

"She sounds _way_ too clingy."

"Speaking of girlfriends," Minato cut in as he put all the pieces of chicken into a bowl and turned around to wipe his wet hands with a paper towel. "Do you have a girlfriend?" He studiously ignored Lucy's angry look, continuing to stare at Natsu.

The boy shook his head. "Nope, but everyone says I should go out with my friend Lisanna Strauss. But she's studying overseas." His black eyes suddenly took on a challenging look. "So what about you?" he asked boldly. "You have a girl?"

Lucy groaned and threw up her hands, muttering, "Boys." Both males ignored her.

Minato smirked and crossed his arms. "And what if I do?"

"Minato!" Lucy said loudly. "Enough!" She turned to Natsu. "I'm sorry, he's usually not like this."

"It's ok." But Natsu's stare was still slightly confrontational.

Minato handed Lucy the bowl of chicken. "Make sure he behaves himself or he won't be allowed here again," he muttered.

"It's your fault in the first place," she hissed back, setting the bowl down on the counter.

"All the same, he should mind his manners."

"Speak for yourself!"

He gave her a hard look, warning her that she was going a little too far. "You think I'm going to back away after what happened between you and Bora?" he growled.

Lucy flinched a little and her eyes dropped as she remembered. "He's not like that…," she mumbled.

"You don't know that yet." Minato put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want something like that to happen to you ever again. We were both lucky I got there in time, but sometimes luck can run out."

"I know, but please trust me on this; Natsu is different. And like I said, we're _just friends_."

He stared at her for a long minute and sighed. "Alright, but I'm watching him," he warned.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Aren't you always." She handed Minato a stack of plates. "Go set the table."

He took the plates and left, not looking at Natsu, who stepped forward after Minato left. "What was that all about?"

"You heard?" Lucy asked.

"A little," he admitted. His eyes were curious and a little angry. "Did something happen to you before you moved here?"

She turned away. "It's not something I want to talk about right now." She smiled thinly and gestured at a drawer. "Can you do me a favor and get Minato the silverware?"

"Sure, Lucy." He opened the drawer and reached in, picking up handfuls of the clinking utensils. After he left, Lucy looked out the kitchen window and sucked in a deep breath. She turned as someone knocked.

Kushina was standing against the wall divider that separated the kitchen from the living room, holding the blue mug in one hand and Wendy's glass of juice in the other. "I was just wondering where I should put these, 'ttebane."

"Oh, just put them in the sink. I'll wash them later." Lucy turned back and began chopping the potatoes.

"Need help?" Kushina asked.

"No, it's alright. I can manage."

"Oh come on. Wendy's watching cartoons again and I've got nothing better to do."

"Well, um, I guess you can finish chopping the potatoes. I need to start cooking anyway." Lucy put a large saucepan over the stove and turned on the heat before adding butter.

Kushina took her place at the chopping board. "Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think your brother hates me?" she asked.

Lucy's eyebrows rose with astonishment. "No."

"Hm. Well, he's a little… unwelcoming towards me so I thought he hated me, 'ttebane." Kushina shrugged. "Oh well. Where should I put these?"

"In the large white bowl. The one with the blue flower print on the side."

"Okay."

The two girls worked in silence until Minato and Natsu walked back in. "What're you doing here?" Natsu asked his sister.

"Helping out. How's Wendy?"

"Plue's with her."

"Lucy, you forgot the onions," Minato said.

She clapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh no!" She turned off the fire and hurriedly grabbed the onions. "Can someone get me a knife?"

Minato nudged her aside. "It's alright. I got this. You take forever when it comes to onions."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Onions make you cry too."

"Not as much as you do." He deftly peeled back the skin and quickly began slicing. His eyes watered, but the tears didn't fall. After he was done, he dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve.

Kushina gave him an amused look as he walked past her, but he ignored her. "Anything else you want me to do?" he asked Lucy.

"Call Jiraiya and tell him we have guests for dinner. Natsu, are your parents coming?"

"Nope. They didn't want to be a bother or something like that." He wrinkled his nose at the smell of raw onions that now permeated the air. "I'm gonna go to the living room."

As he left the kitchen, Kushina laughed a little. "Natsu has a sensitive nose," she told Lucy. "When he was younger, I used to prank him by putting smelly stuff under his nose while he sleeps. You should've heard him yell as he wakes up."

Lucy grinned as she poured the chopped onions into a separate hot skillet, causing them to sizzle. "I tried to prank Minato several times, but he's always managed to evade them. I don't even know how he does it."

"It's because I'm awesome," Minato said, pulling out his phone. "I'll tell Jiraiya he needs to be home in an hour. _Sober."_

"And no random girls that he picked up either!" Lucy called. She turned to Kushina. "Jiraiya's a _huge_ pervert." She rolled her eyes. "I think I'm the only girl who's ever safe from him. Well, me and all girls under the age of 15. He's not a pedophile."

"That's good to hear." Natsu had returned to the kitchen and he was hiding something behind his back. "I found this in the small bathroom in the hallway." He held up an erotic magazine.

"Ugh! I told him not to put those things everywhere!" Lucy snatched the magazine away and threw it in the trash. "Good thing Jiraiya didn't pollute Minato's brain with all those images." She washed her hands and returned to the stove, pouring in the coconut milk. Returning to the onions, she added in the chicken and garlic.

"I'm hungry," Natsu said, watching her cook. Kushina washed her hands after finishing the potatoes and elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, what was that for!"

She motioned with her head towards the living room. Minato was by the front door, still talking into his phone and Wendy was still watching television, Plue curled up on the couch next to her. "You like her," Kushina stated, a broad grin on her face.

Natsu scoffed. "Seriously, sis? I've only known her for a _day_." He walked around her back into the kitchen, but Kushina remained where she was, grin still fixed to her face. "Oh, you like her, alright," she whispered. "You can't hide it from me, little bro."


End file.
